Diamondback Moth

Plutella xylostella

The diamondback moth, sometimes called the cabbage moth, is a moth species of the family Plutellidae and genus Plutella. The small, grayish-brown moth sometimes has a cream-colored band that forms a diamond along its back. The species may have originated in Europe, South Africa, or the Mediterranean region, but it has now spread worldwide. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this insect was recorded 59 times across 6 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 15°C (typically 14 to 18°C, from 7 areas). That holds across 20° of latitude, which suggests its timing follows temperature more than the calendar.

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in Europe ranged from 53°N in May to 63°N in June, about 1,200 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.